Committee members from the children’s charity of rugby pulled out all the stops to source a selection of lots for the auction, including two-night stays in Italy at The Hotel Lord Byron, in Rome, and Florence’s The Hotel Regency; a break at the Woodstock Arms in Woodstock, Oxfordshire; and a signed England shirt.

Raffle prizes included a stay at The Acorn Inn, Dorset; a special edition of a Six Nations 2017 rugby ball; a dinner-for-two at Bob Bob Ricard; and a bottle of Champagne.

The highlight of the night was a patron of the Churchill Arms donating to see Gerry O’Brien, the pub’s landlord, down a yard of ale!